• Growth and development during childhood and/or adolescence life stages (including cognitive development and function)
• Support age related cognitive performance
• Eating/Ingestive behaviors or diet patterns (e.g., types, amounts, and/or frequency of consuming beef) and metabolic health (e.g., heart disease, diabetes, cancer, weight management)
• Dietary patterns of emerging interest (e.g., low carbohydrate/higher meat diets)
• Comparison of types and/or amonts of dietary fats from beef versus plant-sources, other animal source foods, or ultra-processed foods and health outcome
• Impact of beef on mental and emotional health/well-being across the life stages
• Relevant physiological-psychological measures related to improved adherence and/or compliance of healthy dietary patterns with beef
• Interactions between components of the diet matrix and whole food beef matrix*

Existing Research Assessment: Data analysis, food pattern modeling

• Development of a food-based diet and/or nutrient quality index/score with sufficient detail and differentiation of the types and amounts of animal-source foods
• Amounts of beef consumed and association with biomarkers of health
• Identification and/or modeling of beef in context of healthy and ethnically, cunturally, and/or economicall diverse dietary patterns
• Examine the role of beef in accessible, affordable, equitable diets
• Understand the potential connection between beef, hunger, and nutrition and/or food security throughout the lifecycle
• Nutritional life cycle assessment on beef in healthy dietary pattern(s)

literature reviews (systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses encouraged)

• Identification of beef in the context of healthy and ethnically, culturally, and/or economically diverse dietary patterns
• Compare and contrast existing nutritional life cycle assessments of beef
• Exploration of best practice methods to evaluate beef's nutrient matrix*
• Types of dietary fats from beef and health outcomes

*The current working definition for the beef matrix: The collective nutritive and non-nutritive components of the beef food structure and their unique chemical and physical interactions that may be important for human health and are distinguishable from those of the single components in isolation.

• FY25 Long-Term Projects (Original Scientific Research):
• May include proposals for research trials. Funded projects usually range from $50,000 to $300,000, but could be higher if appropriate, necessary, and well justified.
• Can begin on or after October 15, 2024, with a project timeline of up to two years and must be completed by May 31, 2027.
• FY25 Short-Term Projects (Original Scientific Research/Existing Research Assessments):
• May include proposals for project with timelines for up to one year, with funding limited to $100,000/proposal, unless budget is well justfied.
• Can begin on or after October 15, 2024, with a project timeline of up to one year and must be completed by May 31, 2026.
• FY25 Literature Review Projects:
  
• May include proposals for systematic or narrative litearture reviews and/or meta-analyses with funding limited to $50,000/proposal, unless budget is well justified.
• Can begin on or after October 15, 2024, with a project of up to one year and must be completed by May 31, 2026.

Pre-proposal submission process   

The Human Nutrition Research Program follows a two-part application process, including the submission of a pre-proposal. Pre-proposals are intended to be a brief overview of the proposed project. Pre-proposals must meet the submission deadline and follow the guidelines in the RFP to be considered. Pre-proposals should clearly state their relevance to the beef industry. Pre-proposals should clearly state their relevance to the beef industry. Principal Investigators (PIs) may submit more than one pre-proposal. A CV is not required.

The following fields will be required in BeefGrants (word counts may apply for some fields):

• Applicant Information
• Organization Information
• Research Information
• Institution Grant Administration Contact Details
• Pre-Proposal
• Scientific Project Title
• Lay Project Title
• Program Area of Proposed Work (please list if applicable)
• Project Timeline
• Specific Objectives
• Hypothesis
• Proposed Methodology and Design
• Expected Outcomes in Terms of Scientific Knowledge and Technical Capability Delivered as Result of this Project
• Deliverables (ex: pilot data or manuscript development)
• Brief Budget Description (ex: personnel, supplies, materials, sample analysis, presentations, dissemination, travel and miscellaneous)
• References (if applicable)

REVIEW CRITERIA 

Pre-proposals will be reviewed by a panel of independent industry experts and will be evaluated for: clearly defined research question, sound methods, uniqueness and relevance to better understand the role of beef and beef's nutrients in a healthy diet to nourish and optimize Americans' health at every life stage.

PIs with pre-proposals selected for request for full proposal will be notified by May 15, 2024.

Leveraged funcding through collaborations with government agencies (USDA, NIH), foundations, industry or other sources that have matching funds is encouraged. In addition, multidisciplinary collaborations with additional researchers are encouraged where appropriate.

DISCLAIMER 

We are aware that academic institutions have financial obligations for administering the research grants awarded to their faculty members. However, overhead costs, principal investigator salaries, tuition and equipment purchases will not be considered as part of the funds made available for this research.

Questions related to the RFP should be directed to Clara Lau ([email protected]).